The Austin Daily Drop

Arson charges are filed in last week's homeless encampment fire that damaged the historic Buford Tower downtown. Two 35-year sentences result from trials related to the 2018 contract killing of an Austin jeweler . A son of bicyclist Lance Armstrong is charged with sexual assault of a minor . Proposed reforms to Austin Police Department policy are unveiled, as APD continues losing staff . Austin FC...

Thousands of Texas school kids were sent home early from yesterday's STAAR test when the TEA's system crashed. The City prepares a new initiative to get people experiencing homelessness off the street in advance of the May 1 vote on Austin's camping ban. Dr. Anthony Fauci says Texas shouldn't be overconfident about recent COVID lulls, while Austin Public Health's Dr. Mark Escott says our local hos...

Multiple county vaccination operations - Travis , Williamson and Bastrop among them - report shortages of volunteer manpower and could use a hand, especially as Travis expands eligibility to everyone over 40 . While Austin ISD kids still have a virtual vs in-person option, San Marcos ISD wants its students back in class as of next week. "Constitutional Carry" is looking more likely to become law i...

Violence erupts at an East Austin car club meeting, one week after city leaders turned out in support of the weekly gathering. Austin Public Health falls short of filling its vaccination schedule for a second week, leading for calls for it to expand eligibility to new State standards, while Texas draws its biggest weekly allotment of doses yet. Texans showing up to the Capitol to testify on pendin...

Another fire at an Austin homeless encampment damages the historic Bufurd Tower, just as Austin prepares to vote on our local camping ordinances on May 1. Another indictment in the Javier Ambler II police-involved death incident is the second for former Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody . Virtual learning is not going well for too many AISD students . The Huston-Tillotson University and Leand...

Williamson County's former General Counsel is indicted in Travis County in relation to the 2019 police-involved death of Javier Ambler II. Austin Public Health officials say a degree of herd immunity is possible by next month - but good behavior over the holiday weekend is required to get there. Local families are taking part in Pfizer studies of their vaccine with children, and older Austinites c...

A Travis County grand jury indicts two Williamson County Sheriff's deputies in the 2019 police-involved death of Javier Ambler II. Conservative lawmakers in the Lege are making progress on a variety of bills including a practical ban on abortion , additional fees on sustainable energy providers , and the defense of online political speech . Austin Public Health upgrades its vaccine appointment web...

Austin Public Health remains focused on the backlog of 1A, 1B and 1C groups as eligibility for vaccines opens to all Texans over 16 , the State opens a new appointment scheduling website , and an Austin coffee shop employee shares her experiences with anti-maskers via CNN. A bill addressing the state's vulnerable power grid sails through the Senate and is headed to the House . The debate over "The...

Big day as COVID vaccination eligibility expands to ALL adults in Texas over 16 . Demand will surge, but it appears that supply is beginning to catch up . Austin's mask mandate continues - keep in mind our service workers, many of whom continue working unvaccinated . City leaders rally behind a generations-old car club and their weekly Sunday gathering in East Austin. Austin's post-pandemic future...

Crowds at the Capitol yesterday to testify on the George Floyd Act for police reform, while the Austin City Council sets a path for re-opening the Austin Police Academy . The death count from last month's winter freeze disaster continues to climb. The lifting of Texas' masking requirement has been costly for Austin's convention and conference industry . AISD high school seniors can look forward to...

Pictures of hailstones are clogging Austin's social media feeds after a brief hailstorm this morning. Williamson and Hays Counties may be a better bet for finding a vaccination appointment as near-universal eligibility begins Monday. As Texas' African-American community gains confidence in COVID vaccines, White Republicans are left as the group most likely to say no. Unsurprisingly, almost all of...

Texas will soon open vaccination eligibility to ALL residents over 16 - expect demand to spike on Monday, while supplies and appointments remain limited . Austin Public Health asks AISD to consider reducing social distancing requirements on their campuses. Inter-party combat within the Texas GOP erupts over COVID testing requirements at the Capitol. An Austin billionaire steps up big for the city'...

Our hearts break for Boulder, Colorado - but gun violence is on the rise in Austin as well, with a third shooting incident in just 24 hours Monday afternoon. Severe overnight weather damages buildings in nearby Bertram . APD Assistant Chief Joe Chacon is named Interim Police Chief as an extensive search for a new permanent Chief begins. A bill related to fossil fuels in the Texas House could threa...

Austin Police seek suspects in two Southeast Austin shootings Sunday night and early Monday morning - APD will also have a new nominee for Interim Chief today. Still better odds of finding a vaccination appointment in nearby, more rural counties than here in Travis, including Fayette and Lee Counties - many Texans who qualify for shots are failing to find them due to the decentralized and Internet...

Austin Public Health gets their appointment system back in gear , but competition for shots is fierce - there are better chances of getting a slot in Williamson County right now. Google plans a massive expansion push in Austin and across Texas. Austin's U.S. Representative (one of them, anyway) Chip Roy finds himself under criticism for his comments during a U.S. House hearing on Asian-American di...

Concerns are rising nationally about an increase in hate crimes against Asian-American citizens, and Austin is no exception . A new weekly mass-vaccination site opens for the first time in South Austin this weekend, while Texas continues to lag behind most states in the vaccine effort. APD makes an arrest in last weekend's fatal shooting at Swing Hookah Lounge downtown. UT releases a study on the...

A Round Rock Hospital has been on lockdown all night as police search for a shooting suspect. Austin Public Health plans to try again on Thursday following the crash of its COVID vaccination appointment site on Monday - meanwhile there are alternative options in Williamson County , and via a cool Slack workspace designed to help users find appointments. A survey finds that Austin's Black community...

Austin Public Health had a minor meltdown of its vaccine appointment website last night, and will try again Tuesday evening. A new COVID variant surfaces on the UT campus. Texas ranks very low in percentage of fully vaccinated residents, and Travis and Williamson counties rank at the bottom of the most-populous Texas counties by the same measure. The Texas Senate rams through a bill to force ERCOT...

A lot more Texans are eligible for COVID vaccinations today as the 1C group opens - in Austin however, supply limitations still have 1A and 1B in line ahead of 1C . During that time, we'll still be masking as Austin has at least until March 26th to enforce our own mandate. A weekend shooting at a downtown nightclub claims one life. Austin's former police chief is headed for sunny Florida . APD off...

The State of Texas sues the City of Austin and Travis County for continuing to require masks . The State's unmasking puts Austin live music venues into an even more difficult set of circumstances . Matthew McConaughey for Governor - will he or won't he ? UT plans for a "near normal" Fall 2021 semester on campus. APD Officer Christopher Taylor is indicted for first degree murder in the shooting dea...

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton threatened a lawsuit against Austin if city officials didn't back down on their local masking mandate by 6pm Wednesday - which they didn't . As of Monday, every Texan over 50 is eligible for a COVID-19 vaccination. Round Rock's Dell Diamond becomes our latest vaccine super-site starting Friday. An APD officer is charged with murder for his role in the police shoot...

Today's the day - the lifting of most pandemic-related restrictions across Texas - but in Austin, a public health order still dictates that we mask up in public . Local vaccinations look on pace to get everyone done by June , if not earlier - special shout-out to Tarrytown Pharmacy for their efforts. Austin Energy's power generation facilities, unlike many across the state, stayed ON during the Gr...

Statewide pandemic restrictions are to be lifted tomorrow - just in time for Spring Break ! - leading to local pessimism about keeping our COVID numbers in their current state of decline. As bars reopen fully for the first time, undercover TABC officers will be on the prowl. The bright side: successful mass-vaccination events with more in the works . A University of Texas-commissioned study on "Th...

Two weekend fires - the Bushy Gate brush fire in southeastern Travis County and a fire near a homeless encampment under a south Austin highway bridge - have both been brought under control. H-E-B responds to criticism over their masking policy and commits to continue asking patrons to mask up. A rally of service industry workers at the Capitol today will protest the lifting of statewide masking re...

Good vaccine news: Texas' allocation continues to grow and shots are getting easier to find. Bad vaccine news: Austin has wasted more doses than any other city in the state except Houston. Energy sector fallout continues: ERCOT appears to have overcharged its customers during the winter freeze disaster ( Georgetown is a stark example), and Austin Energy's GM has stepped down from the ERCOT board o...